


The Inverted Archives

by Archives Inverted (Kaggath)



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, JEDI AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-24 08:47:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18567940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaggath/pseuds/Archives%20Inverted
Summary: Drabbles and ficlets taking place in a Jedi AU.





	1. To Dream

The door to his quarters whispered shut, but he knew she wouldn’t fall asleep for another hour, maybe two. Her eyes were always so severe, so sharp and suspicious. Veradun couldn’t blame her. He had noticed a certain softening in her gaze, however, most notably when they returned to the small and quiet of his living space provided by the council. 

Veradun didn’t know what evening ritual she had, but he knew she had troubles sleeping. Sometimes in the hush of night while he meditated he could hear the sounds of nightmares from behind his door, and so instead of tending to refreshing his own body as he’d said he would, he instead focused on her. Nothing too deep, too invasive. He wasn’t looking to rip her memories from her without asking, but without knowing how else to help her, he’d decided to try to soothe her dreams. 

Kneeling, Veradun felt his body becoming heavier, heavier, falling into the Force like settling into a mist. Breathing deep, his eyes closed on their own. The sensation of his own body became distant and as he succumbed to the Force, became one with it, he focused on her once more.

 

The Jedi’s door blinked shut, closed her away from him and the world outside, tucked away from the planet and the star and the system. Alone. Eleena was alone again. Every night as that door closed she sat at the edge of the bed, waiting, watching. Every night the Jedi stayed on the other side, as he’d sworn, not so much as stirring. Until he fell asleep.

Meditating for that long must be dreadfully boring, but he kept his word. When she closed that door, she was given privacy until she was ready to come out. Still, trust didn’t come easy. Trust didn’t come quickly. As usual, she kept a silent vigil, listening for any change that could tear down the small net of safety that they had built. Nothing so good could last.

Every night Eleena kept a silent vigil, but every night it became a little easier. The exertion of the day wore down on her, as did the knowledge of the nightmares. Yes, her vigil had become easier, and slipping into sleep as well, but without fail eventually the nightmares returned. She never truly rested. Even so, as his given word, Veradun never barged in while she undoubtedly acted out in her sleep. 

Pulling her knees to her chest, wrapping his blanket around her, she breathed deep. It smelled like his humble clothes, a natural, woody smell. Eleena’s eyes grew heavy, the knot in her gut loosened. 

 

Gasping, sweat slicked, Eleena jolted awake again. Arm thrown up defensively, she looked around, remembered her surroundings, looked to the promise of a closed door. Panting, she listened. He left her be. 

Eleena didn’t think she’d be falling asleep again any time soon, maybe not at all tonight. She didn’t want any Jedi probing into that part of her life, but they seemed to be getting worse. Steeling herself, she decided to leave the room early. She’d make herself some tea. If the Jedi asked, she was just thirsty…

The door opened to a scene of the Jedi sprawled across the floor as gracefully as a half drunk dewback. Despite herself, Eleena chuckled at him as the gentle sound of snoring reached her. She felt a small part of the wall she’d built around herself crumble, just a little. She wanted to recoil from the feeling, to grab a fresh brick and patch the hole, but instead she found herself kneeling next to him. She wanted to retreat to the room and forget she’d ever seen him like this, but…but first she just had to bundle his robe…

He hardly stirred as she cushioned his head. As Eleena draped the spare blanket across him, Veradun smiled in his sleep. The deep brown of his curls, his eyelashes, his strong chin…they all looked different in the dim light of night. 

Swallowing hard, Eleena tried to turn away, to try to go back to sleep. But things were somehow different now, in a way she couldn’t place. In a way that seemed for the better.


	2. To Hope

Eleena didn’t regret inviting him into the bed. Veradun may not comprehend the damage sleeping on the floor could do to a being’s joints, but Eleena knew. Eleena didn’t regret letting yet another piece of her armor crash away as Veradun softened the edges on her heart. Eleena didn’t regret that their two bodies slipped beneath a single blanket, or that the barriers between them sometimes only existed in their minds. She was learning that barriers could be broken, and that it didn’t always hurt.

Even still…sleeping with him was agony. She could see in his wide eyes and the flush of embarrassment as she assured him it was quite alright he’d wrapped his arm around her as they’d slept, that he truly hadn’t meant to hold her. As much of an assurance it was that he had no intentions of taking advantage of her, if he would just ask, she would let him close. Let him on the other side of that wall. 

The tickle of his breath on her neck, the warmth of his body as he unconsciously held her close, the heartbreakingly endearing way his hair fell into his eyes…it was unbearable. And it was so much more than that. It was the naked kindness in his actions. The easy laughter and the boyish charm of his dimples as he and his old friend teased each other. It was the hopelessly infectious way he spread peace and hope to every being he met, and yet made each one feel special. 

She listened for a moment, just listened and breathed and found their breath to come together like two synchronized tides in a single ocean. He was fast asleep, one arm coiled around her waist. She shifted, turned to face him, and found him to barely surface. His hand rested at the small of her back. His eyelashes fluttered, not even quite opening, and with a small “mmf” he was asleep again. 

Tilting her head, softly, secretly, she ghosted the shadow of a kiss on the hollow of his throat, whispering her confession into his neck.

“I love you…”


	3. To See

“What do you see?”

“A sun…an unfamiliar sky. Some clouds.”

Eleena had to admit it was difficult to concentrate on even those. At his instruction they’d settled in the grass on a planet Eleena had never been to before. Veradun had business on the planet, but official business turned to odd jobs, turned to becoming something of a quiet spectacle in town. He was the shoulder to ride on to reach the highest fruit, the pair of hands to help carry goods home. He was the encouraging words and selfless action and hope like a missing piece that filled a hole in the community wherever he went.

“That’s a good start,” he chuckled. “Now, close your eyes…how much of it can you still see?”

“Well…none of it. My eyes are closed.” She heard the fabric of his sleeve rustle, felt the cool of shadow as he blocked the light above her eyes.

“And now?”

“It’s darker, your hand is in the way.”

“But you saw the light from the sun, even with your eyes closed.”

Eleena opened her eyes, turned to him to lift an unamused brow and lost any snark she could have mustered against any other being. He was smiling, still shielding the light from her eyes. His feet pointed north, hers south, and he rested his hand just below his heart so she could stretch her lekku across the soft grass. 

“The Force is in all things,” he continued, completely misinterpreting her wordlessness. Eleena didn’t mind not needing to find her voice, at least for a moment. She was content to watch the light spark in his eyes, the uneven pull of his grin as his unruly hair fell into his face…

“Maybe you haven’t found the words for it, or notice it until something changes, but the Force is there. You don’t have to be able to lift things or see into the future to be a part of it, it just is.”

“But if I can’t do those things, how can it be a part of me?”

“You weren’t born of this world, and yet you’re a part of it. You bend the grass you lay on, you breathe the air of this atmosphere…you helped that man repair his speed—”

“I helped a speeder not explode while a Jedi nearly doubled the thrust output on the rear axle.”

“Yes!” he said, pulling himself up on one elbow to point enthusiastically to her. “And through the will of the Force, no new craters were made in town.”

Eleena shook her head, but couldn’t hide her smile.

“When I was young, graduating from youngling to padawan, I was given three wisdoms, and that was my third lesson: even if something appears empty, it never truly is so.”


End file.
